GSh-301 30mm cannon

Designation
stands for Gryazev-Shipunov 30mm, single-barrel.

This gun is currently produced by Izhmash JSC, a Russian company
which can trace back its origins as far as 1807. Its design is based
on the highly successful 30mm 2A42 cannon used in the BMP-2
infantry fighting vehicle. It is a single-barrel gun with an ammunition
feed mechanism capable of receiving the ammo from left or right side.

Among the aircraft types the GSh-301 is currently used are the
MiG-29, the
Su-27, Su-33,
Su-34, Su-35 and
Su-37. During its operational testing, the GSh-301
obviously had some teething problems. In air-to-air firing the gun is reported to have
jammed after firing just four to six rounds - but this was always enough to bring the target
down!

Deputy General Designer Valdenberg of the MiG-29
stated that had he had known that this gun was so accurate, he would have specified only half
the ammunition load and saved the weight. The GSh-301 usually fires Type 9-A-4002 high-explosive
fragmentation/incendiary and Type 9-A-4511 armor-piercing tracer rounds from the AO-18 ammunition
family.